Unreal. What the hell was this guy thinking.

[RatHatDiver]

Sorry if this is a repost.
Yacht dismasted by supertanker off Cowes, Isle of Wight - YouTube

[paul323]

"Sail has right of way over power"?
"Give way, I am racing"?

....

Or just...."Oh, sh*t"!

[MobiusALilBitTwisted]

it would be funny ............ if it was not so damn stupid

[RatHatDiver]

He might of pulled it off. Dahm anchor sticking out like that.

[MobiusALilBitTwisted]

....... cant fix stupid, not even close,

[newhaul]

actually the tanker had right of way due to limmited steerage. also i live by the biggest truck wins.

[dacap06]

Originally Posted by newhaul

actually the tanker had right of way due to limited steerage. also i live by the biggest truck wins.

Quite right, newhaul! Supertankers are the epitome of restricted ability to maneuver. I still remember the lecture concerning these beasts from SWO school. Properly called Ultra Large Crude Carriers (ULCCs), they are over 1200 feet long and have a capacity of around 450,00 DWT. From full speed (which the instructor claimed was well over 35 kts) they need five nautical miles to come to a full stop. When turning, their advance and transfer are greater than a mile. This is why ULCCs are at their most vulnerable when near shore. They have to be very careful not to run aground. That thing hadn't a prayer of avoiding the sailboat by its own maneuvers alone.

Now all that said -- to my eye, the ship in the video looked too small to be a supertanker. It is probably a product carrier with 1/4 that kind of DWT tonnage. Even so, it does not stop quickly.

[sapo]

Looks like the powered vessel did slow down pretty quickly after the encounter . . .

[Quickstep192]

I know what he was thinking. He was thinking he could make it. Those ships are deceptively fast. I raced for years in part of the Baltimore shipping channel and occasionally saw close encounters where a guy just didn't think the ship was going that fast. The bad news is that these incidents can result in racing being prohibited if the ship captains' complain and it looks like this particular captain might have a legitimate gripe.......

[Michael K]

Hopefully no one was hurt. Physically, at least. If it wasn't painful enough to the skipper's pride to have messed up at a public event with a long history and tradition, by now he (she?) also is suffering from the global humiliation of you tube and the internet!